MEDDESKTOP: Get Kids Ready For The School, Add Vaccinations To The List.

Getting ready for the new school year, among new clothes, bags and lunch boxes, do not forget about the immunizations. You need to make sure all the children are vaccinated to protect them from various deceases.In addition to being protective, it might be required by your state to immunize children against certain deceases like Whooping Cough (pertussis), if you are unsure inquire with your doctor, school or your health department.Some vaccine controllable deceases have become rare but there are instances of flair ups like the 2010's whooping cough, or measles cases reported this year. The only timely vaccinations will keep yours and other children safe from these preventable but deadly deceases.

It is not easy to to track down if you miss a vaccination shot and to help you with that, CDC and Georgia Tech have developed the Catch-Up Immunization Scheduler, an online tool that shows parents and healthcare providers the best options for getting children 6 years of age and younger back on schedule.

For the children between 7-18, parents and healthcare providers can use the Adolescent Immunization Scheduler to determine what vaccines are needed

Children Birth-6 years

Parents can find out what vaccines their children need and when the doses should be given by reviewing the nationally recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule.

During the early years of life, children are recommended to get vaccines to protect them from 14 diseases that can be serious, even life-threatening. Parents who choose not to vaccinate their own children increase the risk of disease not only for their children, but also for other children and adults throughout the entire community. For example, vulnerable newborns too young to have received the maximum protection from the recommended doses of vaccines or people with weakened immune systems such as some people with cancer and transplant recipients are also at higher risk of disease.

Flu vaccines are recommended for kids in pre-school and elementary school to help keep them healthy. In fact, all children 6 months and older should get flu vaccines. Getting all of your children vaccinated – as well as other family members and caregivers – also can help protect infants younger than 6 months old. Ask your family's doctor or nurse about getting flu shots or the nasal spray to protect them against flu.

Children and Teens 7-18 years

CDC provides an immunization schedule for people ages 7 through 18 years for parents and doctors to protect children and teens from vaccine-preventable disease.

Older children need vaccines, too! Of course, everyone older than 6 months of age is recommended to receive a yearly flu vaccination, and older children are no exception! It's important to know that flu can be serious, even for healthy young people. So older kids should get at least one flu shot every year.
As kids get older, they are more at risk for catching diseases, like meningococcal meningitis, so they need protection that vaccines provide. The recommended immunization schedule is regularly updated to include new vaccines and reflect current research. So, it has probably changed since your child was first immunized. Specific vaccines, like HPV, are recommended to be given during the preteen (11-12) years and teen (13-18) years. If kids don't get these vaccines on time, they should get caught up as soon as possible.
For other diseases, like whooping cough, the protection from vaccine doses received in childhood wears off over time. That's why 11- and 12-year-olds are also recommended to get the booster shot called Tdap. Teens—and adults, too—who have not gotten Tdap should get this booster as soon as possible. Tdap is a version of the DTaP vaccine given to infants and young children.

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